Hydrosilylation reactions are a commercially significant industrial method for the formation of the silicon-carbon bond. This general methodology is employed in the formation of several commercial organosilanes, of a wide variety of organofunctional silicones and in the formation of cross-linked silicones. At commercial scale, the reaction is facilitated by a catalyst, usually a metal catalyst where the metal is of the platinum metal group metals.
Use of these types of catalysts is indisputably advantageous but does carry drawbacks. For example, the costs contributed to the manufacturing process by the use of new amounts of catalyst for each reaction cycle are relatively great, as are the costs associated with disposal of reaction waste containing the unrecyclable catalyst. Moreover, residues of the catalyst material may remain in or become incorporated into the final product, imparting an undesirable color.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a catalyst complex and associated methods that address these disadvantages.